<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html lang="en" dir="ltr" class="client-nojs">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>compound literals - cppreference.com</title>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.21.2">


<link rel="shortcut icon" href="../../../favicon.ico">



<link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../common/ext.css">
<meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content="">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../common/site_modules.css">
<style>a:lang(ar),a:lang(ckb),a:lang(fa),a:lang(kk-arab),a:lang(mzn),a:lang(ps),a:lang(ur){text-decoration:none}#toc{display:none}.editsection{display:none}
/* cache key: mwiki1-mwiki_en_:resourceloader:filter:minify-css:7:472787eddcf4605d11de8c7ef047234f */</style>

<script src="../../../common/startup_scripts.js"></script>
<script>if(window.mw){
mw.config.set({"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"c/language/compound_literal","wgTitle":"c/language/compound literal","wgCurRevisionId":77945,"wgArticleId":13899,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":[],"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgMonthNamesShort":["","Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"wgRelevantPageName":"c/language/compound_literal","wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[]});
}</script><script>if(window.mw){
mw.loader.implement("user.options",function(){mw.user.options.set({"ccmeonemails":0,"cols":80,"date":"default","diffonly":0,"disablemail":0,"disablesuggest":0,"editfont":"default","editondblclick":0,"editsection":0,"editsectiononrightclick":0,"enotifminoredits":0,"enotifrevealaddr":0,"enotifusertalkpages":1,"enotifwatchlistpages":0,"extendwatchlist":0,"externaldiff":0,"externaleditor":0,"fancysig":0,"forceeditsummary":0,"gender":"unknown","hideminor":0,"hidepatrolled":0,"imagesize":2,"justify":0,"math":1,"minordefault":0,"newpageshidepatrolled":0,"nocache":0,"noconvertlink":0,"norollbackdiff":0,"numberheadings":0,"previewonfirst":0,"previewontop":1,"quickbar":5,"rcdays":7,"rclimit":50,"rememberpassword":0,"rows":25,"searchlimit":20,"showhiddencats":0,"showjumplinks":1,"shownumberswatching":1,"showtoc":0,"showtoolbar":1,"skin":"cppreference2","stubthreshold":0,"thumbsize":2,"underline":2,"uselivepreview":0,"usenewrc":0,"watchcreations":0,"watchdefault":0,"watchdeletion":0,
"watchlistdays":3,"watchlisthideanons":0,"watchlisthidebots":0,"watchlisthideliu":0,"watchlisthideminor":0,"watchlisthideown":0,"watchlisthidepatrolled":0,"watchmoves":0,"wllimit":250,"variant":"en","language":"en","searchNs0":true,"searchNs1":false,"searchNs2":false,"searchNs3":false,"searchNs4":false,"searchNs5":false,"searchNs6":false,"searchNs7":false,"searchNs8":false,"searchNs9":false,"searchNs10":false,"searchNs11":false,"searchNs12":false,"searchNs13":false,"searchNs14":false,"searchNs15":false,"gadget-ColiruCompiler":1});;},{},{});mw.loader.implement("user.tokens",function(){mw.user.tokens.set({"editToken":"+\\","patrolToken":false,"watchToken":false});;},{},{});
/* cache key: mwiki1-mwiki_en_:resourceloader:filter:minify-js:7:ca03345b1e2c4d90a25d968753a73b92 */
}</script>
<script>if(window.mw){
mw.loader.load(["mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.legacy.wikibits","mediawiki.legacy.ajax"]);
}</script>
<style type="text/css">/*<![CDATA[*/
.source-c {line-height: normal;}
.source-c li, .source-c pre {
	line-height: normal; border: 0px none white;
}
/**
 * GeSHi Dynamically Generated Stylesheet
 * --------------------------------------
 * Dynamically generated stylesheet for c
 * CSS class: source-c, CSS id: 
 * GeSHi (C) 2004 - 2007 Nigel McNie, 2007 - 2008 Benny Baumann
 * (http://qbnz.com/highlighter/ and http://geshi.org/)
 * --------------------------------------
 */
.c.source-c .de1, .c.source-c .de2 {font: normal normal 1em/1.2em monospace; margin:0; padding:0; background:none; vertical-align:top;}
.c.source-c  {font-family:monospace;}
.c.source-c .imp {font-weight: bold; color: red;}
.c.source-c li, .c.source-c .li1 {font-weight: normal; vertical-align:top;}
.c.source-c .ln {width:1px;text-align:right;margin:0;padding:0 2px;vertical-align:top;}
.c.source-c .li2 {font-weight: bold; vertical-align:top;}
.c.source-c .kw1 {color: #0000dd;}
.c.source-c .kw2 {color: #0000ff;}
.c.source-c .kw3 {color: #0000dd;}
.c.source-c .kw4 {color: #0000ff;}
.c.source-c .co1 {color: #909090;}
.c.source-c .co2 {color: #339900;}
.c.source-c .coMULTI {color: #ff0000; font-style: italic;}
.c.source-c .es0 {color: #008000; font-weight: bold;}
.c.source-c .es1 {color: #008000; font-weight: bold;}
.c.source-c .es2 {color: #008000; font-weight: bold;}
.c.source-c .es3 {color: #008000; font-weight: bold;}
.c.source-c .es4 {color: #008000; font-weight: bold;}
.c.source-c .es5 {color: #008000; font-weight: bold;}
.c.source-c .br0 {color: #008000;}
.c.source-c .sy0 {color: #008000;}
.c.source-c .sy1 {color: #000080;}
.c.source-c .sy2 {color: #000040;}
.c.source-c .sy3 {color: #000040;}
.c.source-c .sy4 {color: #008080;}
.c.source-c .st0 {color: #008000;}
.c.source-c .nu0 {color: #000080;}
.c.source-c .nu6 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .nu8 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .nu12 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .nu16 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .nu17 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .nu18 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .nu19 {color:#000080;}
.c.source-c .ln-xtra, .c.source-c li.ln-xtra, .c.source-c div.ln-xtra {background-color: #ffc;}
.c.source-c span.xtra { display:block; }

/*]]>*/
</style>
<!--[if lt IE 7]><style type="text/css">body{behavior:url("/mwiki/skins/cppreference2/csshover.min.htc")}</style><![endif]-->
</head>
<body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr ns-0 ns-subject page-c_language_compound_literal skin-cppreference2 action-view cpp-navbar">
        <!-- header -->
        
        <!-- /header -->
        <!-- content -->
        <div id="cpp-content-base">
            <div id="content">
                <a id="top"></a>
                <div id="mw-js-message" style="display:none;"></div>
                                <!-- firstHeading -->
                <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">compound literals</h1>
                <!-- /firstHeading -->
                <!-- bodyContent -->
                <div id="bodyContent">
                                        <!-- tagline -->
                    <div id="siteSub">From cppreference.com</div>
                    <!-- /tagline -->
                                        <!-- subtitle -->
                    <div id="contentSub"><span class="subpages">&lt; <a href="../../c.html" title="c">c</a>‎ | <a href="../language.1.html" title="c/language">language</a></span></div>
                    <!-- /subtitle -->
                                                            <!-- bodycontent -->
                    <div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
<div class="t-navbar" style="">
<div class="t-navbar-sep"> </div>
<div class="t-navbar-head">
<a href="../../c.html" title="c"> C</a><div class="t-navbar-menu"><div>
<div><table class="t-nv-begin" cellpadding="0" style="line-height:1.1em;">
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../language.1.html" title="c/language"> Language</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../header.html" title="c/header"> headers</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../types.html" title="c/types"> Type support</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../memory.html" title="c/memory"> Dynamic memory management</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../error.html" title="c/error"> Error handling</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../program.html" title="c/program"> Program utilities</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../variadic.html" title="c/variadic"> Variadic function support</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../chrono.html" title="c/chrono"> Date and time utilities</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../string.html" title="c/string"> Strings library</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../algorithm.html" title="c/algorithm"> Algorithms</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../numeric.html" title="c/numeric"> Numerics</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../io.html" title="c/io"> Input/output support</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../locale.html" title="c/locale"> Localization support</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../thread.html" title="c/thread"> Thread support</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(C11)</span> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../atomic.html" title="c/atomic"> Atomic operations</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(C11)</span> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="../experimental.html" title="c/experimental"><span class="t-lines"><span>Technical Specifications</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div></div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class="t-navbar-sep"> </div>
<div class="t-navbar-head">
<a href="../language.1.html" title="c/language"> C language</a><div class="t-navbar-menu"><div>
<div><table class="t-nv-begin" cellpadding="0" style="">
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="ascii.html" title="c/language/ascii"><span class="t-lines"><span>ASCII chart</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="basic_concepts.html" title="c/language/basic concepts">Basic concepts</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="translation_phases.html" title="c/language/translation phases"><span class="t-lines"><span>translation phases</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="../comment.html" title="c/comment"><span class="t-lines"><span>comment</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="identifier.html" title="c/language/identifier"><span class="t-lines"><span>identifier</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="scope.html" title="c/language/scope"><span class="t-lines"><span>scope</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="lifetime.html" title="c/language/lifetime"><span class="t-lines"><span>lifetime</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="name_space.html" title="c/language/name space"><span class="t-lines"><span>name space</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="compatible_type.html" title="c/language/type"><span class="t-lines"><span>type</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="arithmetic_types.html" title="c/language/arithmetic types"><span class="t-lines"><span>arithmetic types</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="object.html" title="c/language/object"><span class="t-lines"><span>object</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="main_function.html" title="c/language/main function"><span class="t-lines"><span>main function</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="memory_model.html" title="c/language/memory model"><span class="t-lines"><span>memory model</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../keyword.html" title="c/keyword"> Keywords</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../preprocessor.html" title="c/preprocessor"> Preprocessor</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="statements.html" title="c/language/statements"> Statements</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="expressions.html" title="c/language/expressions"> Expressions</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="initialization.html" title="c/language/initialization"> Initialization</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="declarations.html" title="c/language/declarations"> Declarations</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="functions.html" title="c/language/functions"> Functions</a>
</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> Miscellaneous</td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="history.html" title="c/language/history"><span class="t-lines"><span>history of C</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="../experimental.html" title="c/experimental">Technical Specifications</a> </td></tr>
</table></div>
<div></div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class="t-navbar-sep"> </div>
<div class="t-navbar-head">
<a href="expressions.html" title="c/language/expressions"> Expressions</a><div class="t-navbar-menu"><div>
<div style="display:inline-block">
<div><table class="t-nv-begin" cellpadding="0" style="">
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> General </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="value_category.html" title="c/language/value category"><span class="t-lines"><span>value category</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="eval_order.html" title="c/language/eval order"><span class="t-lines"><span>evaluation order and sequence points</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="constant_expression.html" title="c/language/constant expression"><span class="t-lines"><span>constant expressions</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="conversion.html" title="c/language/conversion"><span class="t-lines"><span>implicit conversions</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table">
<div><a href="generic.html" title="c/language/generic"><span class="t-lines"><span>generic selection</span></span></a></div>
<div><span class="t-lines"><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(C11)</span></span></span></div>
</div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="expressions.html#Constants_and_literals" title="c/language/expressions">constants and literals</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="integer_constant.html" title="c/language/integer constant"><span class="t-lines"><span>integer constant</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="floating_constant.html" title="c/language/floating constant"><span class="t-lines"><span>floating constant</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="character_constant.html" title="c/language/character constant"><span class="t-lines"><span>character constant</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="string_literal.html" title="c/language/string literal"><span class="t-lines"><span>string literal</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table">
<div><strong class="selflink"><span class="t-lines"><span>compound literal</span></span></strong></div>
<div><span class="t-lines"><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(C99)</span></span></span></div>
</div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv-h2"><td colspan="5"> <a href="expressions.html#Operators" title="c/language/expressions">operators</a> </td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_precedence.html" title="c/language/operator precedence"><span class="t-lines"><span>operator precedence</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_member_access.html" title="c/language/operator member access"><span class="t-lines"><span>member access and indirection</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_logical.html" title="c/language/operator logical"><span class="t-lines"><span>logical operators</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_comparison.html" title="c/language/operator comparison"><span class="t-lines"><span>comparison operators</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_arithmetic.html" title="c/language/operator arithmetic"><span class="t-lines"><span>arithmetic operators</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_assignment.html" title="c/language/operator assignment"><span class="t-lines"><span>assignment operators</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_incdec.html" title="c/language/operator incdec"><span class="t-lines"><span>increment and decrement</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="operator_other.html" title="c/language/operator other"><span class="t-lines"><span>function call, comma, conditional operator</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="sizeof.html" title="c/language/sizeof"><span class="t-lines"><span>sizeof</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table">
<div><a href="alignof.html" title="c/language/ Alignof"><span class="t-lines"><span>alignof</span></span></a></div>
<div><span class="t-lines"><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(C11)</span></span></span></div>
</div></td></tr>
<tr class="t-nv"><td colspan="5"><div class="t-nv-ln-table"><div><a href="cast.html" title="c/language/cast"><span class="t-lines"><span>cast operators</span></span></a></div></div></td></tr>
</table></div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div class="t-navbar-sep"> </div>
</div>
<p>Constructs an unnamed object of specified type in-place, used when a variable of array, struct, or union type would be needed only once.
</p>
<table id="toc" class="toc"><tr><td>
<div id="toctitle"><h2>Contents</h2></div>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="compound_literal.html#Syntax"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Syntax</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="compound_literal.html#Explanation"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Explanation</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="compound_literal.html#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="compound_literal.html#Example"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Example</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="compound_literal.html#References"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
</ul>
</td></tr></table>
<h3>
<span class="editsection">[<a href="http%3A//en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php" title="Edit section: Syntax">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Syntax">Syntax</span>
</h3>
<table class="t-sdsc-begin">

<tr>
<td colspan="10" class="t-sdsc-sep">
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="t-sdsc">
<td> <code><b>(</b></code> <span class="t-spar">type</span> <code><b>)</b></code> <code><b>{ </b></code> <span class="t-spar">initializer-list</span> <code><b>} </b></code>
</td>
<td class="t-sdsc-nopad">
</td>
<td> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span>
</td>
</tr>



<tr>
<td colspan="10" class="t-sdsc-sep">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>where
</p>
<table class="t-par-begin">


<tr class="t-par">
<td>  <span class="t-spar">type</span>
</td>
<td> -
</td>
<td>  a <a href="compatible_type.html#Type_names" title="c/language/type">type name</a> specifying any complete object type or an array of unknown size, but not a VLA
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="t-par">
<td>  <span class="t-spar">initializer-list</span>
</td>
<td> -
</td>
<td>  list of initializers suitable for <a href="initialization.html" title="c/language/initialization">initialization</a> of an object of <span class="t-spar">type</span>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h3>
<span class="editsection">[<a href="http%3A//en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php" title="Edit section: Explanation">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Explanation">Explanation</span>
</h3>
<p>The compound literal expression constructs an unnamed object of the type specified by <span class="t-spar">type</span> and initializes it as specified by <span class="t-spar">initializer-list</span>.
</p>
<p>The type of the compound literal is <span class="t-spar">type</span> (except when <span class="t-spar">type</span> is an array of unknown size; its size is deduced from the <span class="t-spar">initializer-list</span> as in <a href="array_initialization.html" title="c/language/array initialization">array initialization</a>).
</p>
<p>The value category of a compound literal is <a href="value_category.html" title="c/language/value category">lvalue</a> (its address can be taken).
</p>
<p>The unnamed object to which the compound literal evaluates has static <a href="storage_duration.html" title="c/language/storage duration">storage duration</a> if the compound literal occurs at file scope and automatic <a href="storage_duration.html" title="c/language/storage duration">storage duration</a> if the compound literal occurs at block scope (in which case the object's <a href="lifetime.html" title="c/language/lifetime">lifetime</a> ends at the end of the enclosing block).
</p>
<h3>
<span class="editsection">[<a href="http%3A//en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span>
</h3>
<p>Compound literals of const-qualified character or wide character array types may share storage with <a href="string_literal.html" title="c/language/string literal">string literals</a>.
</p>
<div dir="ltr" class="mw-geshi" style="text-align: left;"><div class="c source-c"><pre class="de1"><span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw4">const</span> <span class="kw4">char</span> <span class="br0">[</span><span class="br0">]</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span><span class="st0">"abc"</span><span class="br0">}</span> <span class="sy1">==</span> <span class="st0">"abc"</span> <span class="co1">// might be 1 or 0, implementation-defined</span></pre></div></div>
<p>Each compound literal creates only a single object in its scope:
</p>
<div dir="ltr" class="mw-geshi" style="text-align: left;"><div class="c source-c"><pre class="de1"><span class="kw4">int</span> f <span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw4">void</span><span class="br0">)</span>
<span class="br0">{</span>
    <span class="kw1">struct</span> s <span class="br0">{</span><span class="kw4">int</span> i<span class="sy4">;</span><span class="br0">}</span> <span class="sy2">*</span>p <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="nu0">0</span>, <span class="sy2">*</span>q<span class="sy4">;</span>
    <span class="kw4">int</span> j <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="nu0">0</span><span class="sy4">;</span>
again<span class="sy4">:</span>
    q <span class="sy1">=</span> p, p <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="sy3">&amp;</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> s<span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span> j<span class="sy2">++</span> <span class="br0">}</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy4">;</span>
    <span class="kw1">if</span> <span class="br0">(</span>j <span class="sy1">&lt;</span> <span class="nu0">2</span><span class="br0">)</span> <span class="kw1">goto</span> again<span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// note; if a loop were used, it would end scope here, </span>
                           <span class="co1">// which would terminate the lifetime of the compound literal</span>
                           <span class="co1">// leaving p as a dangling pointer</span>
    <span class="kw1">return</span> p <span class="sy1">==</span> q <span class="sy3">&amp;&amp;</span> q<span class="sy2">-</span><span class="sy1">&gt;</span>i <span class="sy1">==</span> <span class="nu0">1</span><span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// always returns 1</span>
<span class="br0">}</span></pre></div></div>
<p>Because compound literals are unnamed, a compound literal cannot reference itself (a named struct can include a pointer to itself)
</p>
<p>Although the syntax of a compound literal is similar to a <a href="cast.html" title="c/language/cast">cast</a>, the important distinction is that a cast is a non-lvalue expression while a compound literal is an lvalue.
</p>
<h3>
<span class="editsection">[<a href="http%3A//en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php" title="Edit section: Example">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="Example">Example</span>
</h3>
<div class="t-example">
<div class="t-example-live-link"><div class="coliru-btn coliru-btn-run-init">Run this code</div></div>
<div dir="ltr" class="mw-geshi" style="text-align: left;"><div class="c source-c"><pre class="de1"><span class="kw4">int</span> <span class="sy2">*</span>p <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw4">int</span><span class="br0">[</span><span class="br0">]</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span><span class="nu0">2</span>, <span class="nu0">4</span><span class="br0">}</span><span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// creates an unnamed static array of type int[2]</span>
                        <span class="co1">// initializes the array to the values {2, 4}</span>
                        <span class="co1">// creates pointer p to point at the first element of the array</span>
<span class="kw4">const</span> <span class="kw4">float</span> <span class="sy2">*</span>pc <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw4">const</span> <span class="kw4">float</span> <span class="br0">[</span><span class="br0">]</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span><span class="nu19">1e0</span>, <span class="nu19">1e1</span>, <span class="nu19">1e2</span><span class="br0">}</span><span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// read-only compound literal</span>
 
<span class="kw4">int</span> main<span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw4">void</span><span class="br0">)</span>
<span class="br0">{</span>
    <span class="kw4">int</span> n <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="nu0">2</span>, <span class="sy2">*</span>p <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="sy3">&amp;</span>n<span class="sy4">;</span>
    p <span class="sy1">=</span> <span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw4">int</span> <span class="br0">[</span><span class="nu0">2</span><span class="br0">]</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span><span class="sy2">*</span>p<span class="br0">}</span><span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// creates an unnamed automatic array of type int[2]</span>
                       <span class="co1">// initializes the first element to the value formerly held in *p</span>
                       <span class="co1">// initializes the second element to zero</span>
                       <span class="co1">// stores the address of the first element in p</span>
 
    <span class="kw1">struct</span> point <span class="br0">{</span><span class="kw4">double</span> x,y<span class="sy4">;</span><span class="br0">}</span><span class="sy4">;</span>
    <span class="kw4">void</span> drawline1<span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> point from, <span class="kw1">struct</span> point to<span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy4">;</span>
    <span class="kw4">void</span> drawline2<span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> point <span class="sy2">*</span>from, <span class="kw1">struct</span> point <span class="sy2">*</span>to<span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy4">;</span>
    drawline1<span class="br0">(</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> point<span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span>.<span class="me1">x</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">1</span>, .<span class="me1">y</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">1</span><span class="br0">}</span>,  <span class="co1">// creates two structs with block scope </span>
              <span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> point<span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span>.<span class="me1">x</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">3</span>, .<span class="me1">y</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">4</span><span class="br0">}</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// and calls drawline1, passing them by value</span>
    drawline2<span class="br0">(</span><span class="sy3">&amp;</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> point<span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span>.<span class="me1">x</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">1</span>, .<span class="me1">y</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">1</span><span class="br0">}</span>,  <span class="co1">// creates two structs with block scope </span>
              <span class="sy3">&amp;</span><span class="br0">(</span><span class="kw1">struct</span> point<span class="br0">)</span><span class="br0">{</span>.<span class="me1">x</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">3</span>, .<span class="me1">y</span><span class="sy1">=</span><span class="nu0">4</span><span class="br0">}</span><span class="br0">)</span><span class="sy4">;</span> <span class="co1">// and calls drawline1, passing their addresses</span>
<span class="br0">}</span></pre></div></div>
<p><br> 
</p>
</div>
<h3>
<span class="editsection">[<a href="http%3A//en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php" title="Edit section: References">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span>
</h3>
<div class="t-ref-std-11">
<ul><li> C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011): 
</li></ul>
<dl><dd>
<ul><li> 6.5.2.5 Compound literals (p: 85-87)
</li></ul>
</dd></dl>
<div class="t-ref-std-c99">
<ul><li> C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999): 
</li></ul>
<dl><dd>
<ul><li> 6.5.2.5 Compound literals (p: 75-77)
</li></ul>
</dd></dl>
</div>
</div>

<!-- 
NewPP limit report
Preprocessor visited node count: 2811/1000000
Preprocessor generated node count: 4458/1000000
Post‐expand include size: 72742/2097152 bytes
Template argument size: 15302/2097152 bytes
Highest expansion depth: 16/40
Expensive parser function count: 0/100
-->

<!-- Saved in parser cache with key mwiki1-mwiki_en_:pcache:idhash:13899-0!*!0!!en!*!* and timestamp 20150421130229 -->
</div>                    <!-- /bodycontent -->
                                        <!-- printfooter -->
                    <div class="printfooter">
                    Retrieved from "<a href="http%3A//en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php">http://en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php?title=c/language/compound_literal&amp;oldid=77945</a>"                    </div>
                    <!-- /printfooter -->
                                                            <!-- catlinks -->
                    <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks catlinks-allhidden"></div>                    <!-- /catlinks -->
                                                            <div class="visualClear"></div>
                    <!-- debughtml -->
                                        <!-- /debughtml -->
                </div>
                <!-- /bodyContent -->
            </div>
        </div>
        <!-- /content -->
        <!-- footer -->
        
        <!-- /footer -->
        <script>if(window.mw){
mw.loader.state({"site":"loading","user":"missing","user.groups":"ready"});
}</script>
<script src="../../../common/skin_scripts.js"></script>
<script>if(window.mw){
mw.loader.load(["mediawiki.action.view.postEdit","mediawiki.user","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.searchSuggest","mediawiki.hidpi","ext.gadget.ColiruCompiler"], null, true);
}</script>
<script src="../../../common/site_scripts.js"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2828341-1']);
_gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'cppreference.com']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
</script><!-- Served in 0.088 secs. -->
	</body>
<!-- Cached 20150421142507 -->
</html>
